“What is his real agenda here?” Todd asked today at South Carolina’s Winthop University where he was appearing on an election panel.

“Is it to educate the public about the dangers of money and politics, and what’s going on?

“Or, is it simply to marginalize the Republican Party?

“And so I think, if I were a Republican candidate, I would be concerned about that.”

Colbert and his Super PAC — Americans for a Better Tomorrow Tomorrow — have reportedly spent more than $65,000 on TV ads in South Carolina ion the past two weeks ridiculing the GOP candidates in a bid to show the absurdity of campaign finance rules.

And today, the comedian is barnstorming in the state — where he grew up — urging Republicans to vote for Herman Cain, who dropped out of the race a month ago but remains on the ballot, as a way of voting for him.

The candidates are plainly unhappy that Colbert has been diverting media attention away from the rase and that his ads have the potential to influence the vote.

But this is the first time someone from the media itself has come out and attacked Colbert’s stunt.

Todd told students that the media has been making a big mistake to give Colbert’s campaign a pass and allow him to appear in character and pretend he is actually running.

“Both Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert want to mock us in the media all the time,” Todd said. “proclaiming we don’t do our jobs.

“And then when you call them out on it, they say, ‘We’re just comedians.’

“Actually, no, you’re not anymore.

“Yes, the process is a mess,” Todd said.

“But he’s doing it in a way that it feels as if he’s trying to influence it with his own agenda that may be anti-Republican.

“I enjoy the parody. But I have to admit I’m uncomfortable when it’s, like, actually merging into the real world.”

Todd is one of the most freewheeling political reporters on TV. He maintains a hyperactive Twitter account and starred in an Internet viral video last month when he was inadvertently caught on camera flipping the birdjust before going on the air. .